Shadows of Dawn

Peter Phippen

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Canyon Records
• ASIN: B000H5U4EA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #290,489 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A sound of a flute Which wafted from the endlessness Will fade into infinite mind Just washing it with its inherent fineness.

A sound of a flute. So simple and natural. Reaching the innermost of your heart. Making you cry and laugh, enjoy and grieve. The sound which can express the inmost feelings: a yearning of a heart, an ardour of a passion and a chilling sorrow of a parting. In private with this music you can come back to the past, to the place where you felt nice and where you were loved, or just stay there to be in private with yourself, all of a sudden, without fuss and hurry to feel your heartbeat and your most secret wishes.

'Shadows of Dawn' is a masterpiece. Peter Phippen in his music makes use of a wide variety of flutes. These are an Edo period shakuhachi, and a transverse bamboo flute, and an Anasazi flute, and a Native American flute, and a contemporary shakuhachi, and a bone whistle. Peter Phippen is a heaven-born flutist. His flutes are so precise in reproducing the finest nuances of human emotions. And accompanying instruments such as a synthesizer, different kinds of drums, just accentuate a strident sounding of flutes.

A tremendous treasure is hidden in these plain primeval sounds. There is a boundless world of emotional experience. Meditative tunes of flutes put thoughts in order and clear up consciousness. Suddenly you begin to realize that all your troubles and problems are in actual fact petty and strained. And moreover Peter Phippen's music is full of love. And just now and then an unbearable anguish and a bitterness of parting shine through his compositions. The 'Shadows of Dawn' album is dedicated to Anita Alice, Peter Phippen's mother who passed away two years ago. The musician splashes out his inexhaustible love and tenderness to her by means of his music.

What else can be added to this? This brilliant album released by Canyon Records will adorn a collection of any music lover. This is a kind of music without which our world would be much more insipid.

Among forgetfulness and fuss Without fail there comes the time for us To feel pulsation of the life The music hides inside. --By S.M. Kozlovsky - Writings by Serge Kozlovsky

Product Description

The voice of the flute is the voice of the human heart. When we hear the flute, we hear the heart's passions, joys, and losses. Flutist Peter Phippen captures the power of the flute to invoke the hidden places of the heart. His music for ancient and contemporary shakuhachi, Native American, Anasazi, and bamboo flutes, accompanied by synthesizer, drums, and percussion. is intimate and insightful, joyous and melancholy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peter Phippen's Shadows of Dawn: A CD Review , September 11, 2006

By	Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

by Dr. Kathleen Joyce-Grendhal, Executive Director
International Native American Flute Association [..]

In Shadows of Dawn, Peter Phippen once again reveals his mastery of world flutes, gently bringing forth every nuance and color bend from each instrument. He skillfully maps the heart and soul with every subtle, emotional musical gesture. Every phrase lifts the spirit and entices the ear to listen more closely in search of the aural journey that Phippen is so skilled at gifting, quenching the musical thirst of the being in quest for soulful, musical saturation.

With every performance, it never ceases to amaze me at Phippen's skill and mastery of every type of world flute. The sounds he pulls forth from every instrument is both astounding and natural. Many world flute players are masters of their instruments, but Phippen instills an aura of worldly mysticism and elemental knowledge in each breath, making the music delicate and achingly beautiful. His music on Shadows of Dawn is the aural manifestation of yearning and desire, sadness and loss. Every human emotion runs rampant in the soaring melodic explorations of Phippen's music; he is an old soul with prismatic stories and many profound musical gifts to share.

Shadows of Dawn emphasizes world flutes, yet there are other instruments present such as synthesizer, Nigerian drums, chimes, crystal singing bowls, conga, and African drums. However, the accompanying instruments subtly enhance the masterful musical shadings of Phippen's flute lines. The textures are always clean and pure, allowing the the flute to reach out and gently caress the ear of the listener with rich flute sounds laden with serenity. The presence of percussion truly complements and feels like the heartbeat within each of us; feel it in your being as Phippen floats his warm flutes phrases through the air and into your inner being.

The flutes with which Phippen expresses himself on Shadows of Dawn are an Edo period shakuhachi, a transverse bamboo flute, an Anasazi flute, Native American flutes, a contemporary shakuhachi, and a bone whistle. Each aerophone has its own story and voice, and Phippen coaxes the beauty from each instrument as his artistry unfolds with each musical selection.

It is my opinion that Peter Phippen is the most overlooked flutist in the industry. He is not only a gifted world flutist, but he is a true artist. Each musical note is a color on the palette and each phrase a soulful brush stroke, creating a musical work of art to be cherished and taken into the soul like a warm drink of musical sustenance. Phippen's music comes from his heart, and he has much to say to the world and many gifts to reveal. There are many people in the world who play world flutes, but there are few who are soulful, truly ambient artists like Peter Phippen.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very calming, July 20, 2008

By	Anthony Zylstra - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This albm is very relaxing from start to finish. It has the feel of Native American music if not the authenticity. I listen to it when I drive to calm me down, seems to work.

5.0 out of 5 stars An intimate, meditative dialogue between a master musician and his flutes., December 14, 2006

By	Randy J. Granger "lonegrangernm" (Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Shadows of Dawn is an intimately haunting, meditative dialogue between a musician and his instruments. Peter Phippen is a World Flute specialist and a maverick innovator in the Genre. This latest album explores some of the oldest and deceptively simple flutes like the Japanese Shakuhachi, the transverse bamboo and the revived Anasazi flute. The flutes are simple "only" in the fact they are hollow tubes with a mouth hole and some finger holes. Unlike the ubiquitous Native American Style flutes which have a stop, two air chambers and are easy to produce something musical; the flues on Shadows of Dawn are decidedly difficult to play and learn and the player must "seduce" the slurs, glissandos, upper octaves and sometimes even the fundamental note from these instruments. Through the research of Dr. Richard Payne and master flute maker Michael Graham Allen the Anasazi flute is seeing a revival and in the hands of Phippen the flute sounds mysterious--like colored air. It is played are on some of my favorite tracks of this album. Other tracks like "A Silent Place," "Spirit of the Woods," and "Safe Passage," demonstrate the control, intonation and expressiveness of Phippen's playing.

Like Phippen's previous albums most, if not all, of the songs are improvised in the studio. The percussion and synthesizer are supportive and musical. Good improvisation combines intelligent and intuitive choices with freedom and spontaneity. Phippen chooses impeccably and transcends the devotional discipline that can limit some musicians. In fact I was reminded of the Jazz Flutist, Herbie Mann, on a few songs. Every one of these songs is an inspired melodic, spiritual journey into a very intimate instrument where simple breath flowing through wood invokes a suspension of time, place, and feeling. Phippen began by playing the Bass Guitar professionally at age twelve, was a member of a Billboard charted pop band, played in an Avant-Garde trio, lectures on World Flutes, works with school children and is a headliner at major Flute and Music festivals.

I get the sense from talking with Phippen and listening to his music that whether it be the Flute, the Bass, and the Drum etc., that this man is a musician who walks his talk and is charting his own territory. Equal parts Jimmy Hendrix, Coyote Oldman, Herbie Mann and master world flutist, there is no ego in this music and the ornamentations are tasteful and right on. The great jazz musicians like Coltrane, Byrd, and Miles all practiced and crafted their instruments so that they would have an internal repertoire of skills allowing them to express what ever they were feeling musically at the time. Phippen is of that ilk; a humble, reluctant master of World Flutes just "trying to get out of the way of the music."